Alf-Helge Aarskog thought he had bought a car with no financial encumbrances. Two and a half years later, he received a claim of €107,000 from the Santander Consumer Bank in Norway.
According to Bergensavisen (requires login), the CEO of Marine Harvest bought an Audi A6 from a car seller in 2013. Without informing Aarskog, the seller had taken private loans on the car in his own name. The loan eventually expired without being paid and the claim was directed at the buyer.
“I did not have any problems with the car, but suddenly the bank demanded payments. I asked the seller several times to sort things out. When that did not happen, I saw no alternative to taking court action,” Aarskog told Bergensavisen.
Prior to the weekend, Aarskog appeared in Bergen County Court House to seek compensation for the fraud.
The car dealer, who is in his 30s, did not appear in court, but had submitted a medical certificate claiming that he was neither physically nor mentally fit to appear.
District Court judge Arne Fortun believed the defendant had no valid reason for his absence, and proceeded with the case.
